Boldonian Islands Campaign
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| Boldonian Islands Campaign | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States | Empire of Japan | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 267,000 | 100,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 43,000+ killed and missing | 62,000+ killed and missing | ||||||
The Boldonian Islands Campaign is the name for the various battles that took place in Boldonia, Eastisle, and Brasilistan. It is considered the deadliest campaign of the Pacific Theatre of World War II. The campaign is usually split into three different phases, the Japanese invasion, air skirmishes, and American invasion.
Background
Boldonia
Ever since it became a part of the United States after the Spanish-American War, Boldonia had cemented itself as one of the most important islands in the Pacific. It allowed the United States to easily dominate the area both militarily and economically, and its ever growing population only made it more important. During the Great Depression Boldonia was considered to have been left mostly unaffected, only further growing its population as Americans suffering through the depression moved to Boldonia to escape. By 1940 the population of Boldonia had already reached one million, greatly above its population of 43,862 in 1900, and was considered the economic center of the Pacific. Both American and Japanese generals said that America could not lose the Pacific if Boldonia remained in American hands.
Despite its growth however, its infrastructure was lacking in some areas. Despite most settlements at the time being along the coast, very few actually had the capability for ships to dock at a pier. By 1940 only Harbor Island, Parmilo, Eastisle City, Norfi City, and Filorose had ports in which full sized ships could dock instead of relying on tender craft. Airfields were few and far between with there only being 10 airfields in the territory by 1940, most in the south with very few in the north. Road infrastructure was also very poor, at the time the only road connection between cities were either a single two lane paved road that followed the coast varying in quality, or a mess of dirt roads and trails that formed a web through the country. Still despite these issues Boldonia was still a highly populated, economically important, and strategically important target which makes it easy to see why it was one of the first of the United States' Pacific territories to be attacked.